The End Of Me
by Madiison
Summary: Madison is David's daughter, and she feels left out because of how much he works on that stupid town. After a while, they get close, but when another teenage girl comes to town and murders her father, it's up to Madison to take on the task of watching over the town. Will she have it in her to continue what her father started, or will she get killed just like he did?


Bronze-blue eyes stared boredly out of the cracked window next to them. The weather outside was harsh; the wind and the snow was merciless. All that could be seen was the white substance nearly pounding down onto the ground below. It looked like it could turn into hard balls of ice any second, but it didn't, which was a bit strange for that weather.  
The girl sighed and shifted in her seat, putting her hands under her arms. It was freezing inside, who knew how bad it was outside. Her black hair had specks of white in it, and her face was pale almost like a ghost. She didn't look like she had been in a warm place any time soon.  
She was alone, sitting inside of a burned and abandoned church. The rows of seats that were in front and behind her were cracked and falling apart, and the giant cross that was at the front wasn't doing any better. All around were scattered bibles and papers and pens, she could even see an arm sticking out from one of the nearby doors. She figured it was crushed and stuck there, along with the door. There was moss, grass and plants growing in small cracks in the floors and walls. The girl wondered how long it took for those to grow, and how long this church had been around.  
Being a fifteen-year-old girl, she hadn't really gotten to enjoy the wonders of the world before it all went to crap. She was born five years into the madness, and things only got worse from there. Sure, she had her dad to protect her, but anyone else that was with her usually died, or left for 'better places.' She hadn't stuck around anyone for long, it wasn't how this world worked. The only person who stayed with her was her father.  
She took off one of her purple gloves and turned her hand over. Engraved into her hand in small writing was the name, 'Madison.' That was her name. When she was younger, she used to forget it a lot. It wasn't important. It was either her father or an older friend of hers who carved that into her hand so she'd never forget. She was getting better at remembering, sure, but there were days when she forgot altogether.  
Madison let out a small sigh again and stood up from her seat. She wanted to check on her dad, and her friends. They were all working out in the storm, doing their jobs as usual. In their little run down town, everyone had a job to do, whether you were a kid or an adult. It was to keep everything running smoothly and to make sure everyone was happy. She always scoffed whenever her father said anything about 'happy.' Was anyone ever happy in times like these? Was her dad even happy? She didn't know. He was most likely trying to keep her from being scared or upset.  
She wandered out of the church and put up her hood that was attatched to the large coat that she was wearing. She shivered, rubbing her arms with her hands. Even on the porch of the church, which was covered, she could feel the harsh winter. It was horrible. It seemed to never end, no matter how much anyone prayed or hoped. Prayers weren't going to be answered in a world like this. You were on your own.  
Madison took in a deep breath, then ran out into the snow, covering her eyes with her hand as she did so. Her feet nearly stuck to the snow and made her stumble a bit, though that didn't make her stop running. She just wanted to get out of it all. She could hear the wind blowing into her ears, and the snow was falling on her face and into her eyes, even with the hood up. How she wished that it would just end.  
After about five minutes of sprinting, she ran into an abandoned shop, where she was greeted with a gun to the face. She froze, and looked at the man who held it, who let out a sigh of relief and put the gun down.  
"Jesus Christ, Madi! You almost gave me a heart attack." He said, moving out of her way. It was a middle aged man, who looked tired and hungry. He had a scar on his face, and his green eyes held a hint of pain in them. Madison let out a chuckle and held up her hands defensively.  
"What, did you just expect me to walk in like it was a party?" She asked sarcastically. The man chuckled and held the gun up again jokingly.  
"No, but your father wouldn't be happy if he found out that I shot his daughter in the face with a shotgun. He would murder me, and probably feed my body parts to the other folks here." He said, rolling his eyes. Madison let out a small giggle and coughed.  
"Hey, Nick! We don't talk about what he does when someone gets killed around here. That's a rule and I could have you shot for it."  
"Oh sure, you'd most definitely do that, darlin'."  
Madison rolled her eyes and grinned as she continued to walk past him. She said bye to him as she did so, and he simply nodded his head in response. She earned waves and smiles from the other men in town. They all liked her, they were friends. Everyone here had to like each other, or else you'd never survive. Someone would turn everyone else against you.  
She continued to walk through the snow and shops until she got to one especially large meat shop. She walked through its front door, listened as the bell went off, and closed the door quickly behind her before any more snow got in. She kicked the toes of her boots against the floor a few times before making her way towards the back room.  
"Hey, I'm back!" She called. She waited a few minutes before getting a response back from the man in the back.  
"I'm back here; watch your step."  
Madison let out a small sigh and took off her coat. It was probably a bad idea, but she didn't need to be wearing it. It was usually warm in this little shop that they had running.  
"Coming in. Don't hurt me." She called as she pushed past the plastic door and went into the main meat storage area.  
She wandered into the back a bit, moving past hanging bodies. She hated those things, they usually got into the way. But of course, they weren't allowed to be moved. Touching them meant that you'd be the next to be fed to the townspeople.  
She continued to wander until she saw someone else standing in front of what seemed to be a desk. He was shuffling through what seemed to be papers, and he was muttering to himself. Madison let out a small giggle and smiled.  
"What're you doing, David?"  
The man stopped and turned around, a smile appearing on his face.  
"Hey, Madi." He said as he leaned against the desk. Madison waved and pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket.  
"Here. I took stock today, and this is all of the items we have. Ammo, food, flashlights, medicine, whatever, I counted it and wrote it down." She said as she held it out to him. David took it and read over it for a second, then nodded and put it down.  
"Great. We'll have enough stuff to last us for a while. Thanks." He said, patting the younger girl's hair. Madison nodded and walked over to the desk, hopping up and sitting down on it. She grinned at her father.  
"Who was the unlucky person today?" She asked. David rolled his eyes and glanced at her as he continued shuffling through papers.  
"No one you need to know about, Madison. Get off of my desk." He replied. Madison crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, like a child.  
"No. You usually let me sit on your desk all the time. What's so different this time?" She asked.  
"There...there's stuff in there. I don't want you managing to open it up and find it." David replied after a moment of hesitation. That made Madison even more curious.  
"Stuff?" She asked. He sighed and turned around to face her.  
"Stuff, that's for you. You only get it tomorrow, though. Now get off of the desk before I push you off."  
Madison blinked. She had forgotten about tomorrow. Tomorrow, her sixteenth birthday. She had learned that in a world like this, birthdays didn't matter at all. They weren't important. It was just another day that you could consider yourself lucky to be alive, like any other day. People were strangely excited about Madison's sixteenth birthday. She was the youngest in the town, and people wanted to celebrate her birthday as much as possible. They didn't care about all fifteen of her other birthdays. Why would they care about this one? Madison was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt him kiss her forehead. He was holding a bow in hand, a quiver full of arrows on his back.  
"Meet me out near the woods, and be careful. There might be stray infected." said David. With that, he turned around and left the room, leaving the door open behind him. Madison sat there for a moment, confused, before she hopped off of the desk and wiped her pants of any dust. She looked back at the desk for a moment, deciding whether or not she should look inside. That would most likely only make her father angry, and she just shook her head and jogged out of the door, unaware of what her father was planning.


End file.
